The empty husk of the USS Excalibur laid dormant as Sir Pentious slithered across the dust covered floor in his custom radiation suit. The radiation inside of the unknown vessel was surprisingly at a minimum, mainly due to the other worldly configuration of the hull protecting the vessel. However, Pentious wanted to be safe after all, he couldn't be blamed. Who else would have gone into a husk of a mysterious vessel right next to a destroyed nuclear power plant?
Using walkie talkie that he had brought to communicate with his airship, Pentious started issuing out several orders to his minions. They included instructions to set up a perimeter and airtight entryway where they had entered the vessel, to transport supplies and equipment inside the wreck necessary for further investigation, and to continue to scan for any anomalies.
Having concluded ordering around his egg bois up above he turned towards the ones having been brought with him. "Alright you numbskulls! Half of you stay here and see if you can activate any of these consoles, but DON'T break anything! The rest of you follow me in searching the rest of the place."
Half of the egg bois scrambled to the nearest consoles while the other half formed up behind their snake-like boss. The group marched down the hallway they had exited and began their exploration of the ship.
A few currently unreachable rooms later and the demons stumbled upon a door that wasn't fused shut or blocked by debris. Entering into the room it appeared to be a decently furnished quarters of some kind with enough basic amenities to house someone of clearly high importance.
"I wonder who lived here?" One of the eggbois stated.
"Never mind wondering and get to searching so we can find out!" Pentious replied
After a brief search the snake-like demon clasped his hands around what looked like some sort of smart device. It seemed much more advanced than anything Voxtech had come up with despite the fact that a corner of the device had been chipped off, revealing a small amount of wires and circuitry. A click of one of the buttons later and a somewhat glitched screen came to life.
Eyes widening the overlord demon began to voraciously read what looked like a short journal entry.
"Captain's Log; Stardate 4714.04. This is Anton Harris. At the request of Starfleet Command, the Excalibur has just been ordered to proceed to Starbase 6 for war games. Starfleet left no other explanation, but what we do know is that the USS Lexington and the USS Enterprise will also be present. The crew of the Excalibur know the Enterprise with distinction after the events of the Beta Cabrini mining colony. I must say for myself James Kirk is a fine captain, although loose around the edges. I'm looking forward to our war games, may the best man win, Jim."
A dozen thoughts entered Pentious's mind processing what he had discovered soon far and speculating on the rest. For one it was extremely strange that the names were very human, hell everything he had found so far was in english and the clothes seemed tailored for humans. But how did that square with an Alien vessel? Could it be that humans have advanced far more than recent sinners had let on? Was it simply a coincidence and the former crew were just aliens? Did these aliens perhaps play a role in the invention of the English language? Was it something far more fantastical?
Secondly, the man in the Log talked about something called "Starfleet." This wasn't the first time that Pentious had heard of the name, whereas the probe he had obtained said it was from Starfleet. Perhaps the probe and this vessel came from the same organization? If so, where were all of these members of this organization? They seemed to disappear into thin air, leaving only their cloth uniforms on the ground with their golden deltas.
Thirdly and finally, did something go wrong in the war games mentioned that would have caused the vessel to end up here? The hull of the ship had projected holes and damage into it, especially in the mangled debris on the back of the saucer and in the hull below the saucer. The ship had looked like it was in a battle, a battle that it did not win.
Pushing his thoughts aside for the moment Pentious ordered his minions to form up and follow him as the party searched more rooms. It seemed luck was not on their side at first as the demons found only two more accessible rooms with little to nothing of real note in them other than that they seemed to be crew quarters as well.
After some more grumbling and insults at his minions the snake demon seeing that there was nothing of note on the floor decided to return to the bridge finding that the egg bois left behind to look at the consoles had little success.
"What is the meaning of thisss! I ordered you sssmooth brains to activate the consoles!"
"We're t-trying sir, but they don't respond to any button we push. I don't think we can do anything because the power is out on the wreck." One of the eggbois shakily responded.
"HHHhhrrrggg! Well….Fine! Then help me try to pry open thisss door here!"
"W-why that door boss?"
"Becuassse you imbecile! This is a large vessel that would have an elevator system of some kind and this door certainly lookss like one! Besides, it makes no sense for there not to be a lift on the bridge according to my mechanical genius."
Knowing he was probably right and not wanting to incur the wrath of their master whom they existed only to please the egg-like minions got together to open the door. It took some effort, but thankfully the door had not been sealed shut like the rest and they had managed to move it enough that they could slip through one at a time without risking any tears in their invaluable suits.
As it turned out Pentious was correct the door opened to a vertical shaft big enough to house a sizable elevator. Climbing down the shaft they luckily found that the door to the next floor was open based on the faint orange glow emitting from the opening. The answer as to why the door was open was evident over the fact that the top of the elevator itself was blocking the lower third of the opening while providing a stable floor for the demons to use to reach the next deck even though the metal groaned everytime weight was put on it.
Exiting the lift the demons found themselves in a very interesting room.
The room itself was far larger than any other one that was found on the vessel. The most eye-catching feature of the complex was the long wide horizontal collection of cores that aligned themselves to form what seemed to be a massive energy system, like that of fuel rods in a nuclear power plant. They were also the source of the orange light. In the middle of the room were two flattened rounded nodules with the crystal assembly, seemingly able to be taken in and out with ease. On the walls contained numerous and incalculable amounts of buttons, levers, and knobs that seemingly controlled the screens that were on said walls. However, the place looking like an absolute dumpster was a massive overstatement. Burnout wires laid everywhere as the core of the complex was battered and damaged. There were buttons missing from the holes they were supposed to be in, leaving only dark and empty spaces.
Pentious was amazed at first. The room looked like some sort of nuclear reactor decades, or even some centuries ahead of anything hell had. The fact that there still seemed to be power being generated based on the glowing cylindrical pylons was even more impressive considering what the ship had been through and in how much of a dilapidated state it was in. While the condition of the room left a lot to be desired, the overlord realized he had found the solution to accessing this place's secrets.
The Snake slithered his way to the middle of the room, deducing that it must have something to do with the power systems, mainly due to the copious amounts of protruding wires coming from it. The nodules itself through some stroke of luck appeared to be undamaged, with only the wiring needing to be done. The snake kneeled down as he pulled out a wiring device from his jacket, and began to work with great concentration as he began to reconnect the wires and circuitry.
"What are you doing boss?"
"Quiet you nimrods! I'm obviously trying to restore power to this vessel to unlock its secrets!"
As the minutes passed the snake demon eventually finished up his rudimentary repairs with the help of his minions.
"Soon the knowledge inside this vessel will be mine! And they ssshall surely propel me into securing my rightful place as ruler of pentagram city and of all HELL!"
Letting out a cliche evil villain cackle, Pentious dramatically held the two last wires apart before slamming them together hastily. Only to be thrown back against the wall violently.
A white blast of pure electricity and power shot out of the nodule matrix, sending the snake tumbling back as the blast caused the others to cover their eyes.
After a moment of uncertainty, the nodules began to glow with white as the rest of the room's systems began to glow. Buttons lit up, screens displayed low power warnings and low output from the warp core, and the lights lit up the dark room into a room that laid barren for everyone to see. A laggy female voice from the loudspeakers began to speak with nonemotion, as if she was a computer system.
"W-Warning. Warp C-Core power output low. Auxiliary power is currently fif-fifteen percent. Please begin power matrix reactivation protocols at once." The Voice said before it stopped glitching. "Beginning systems reboot. Standby for further notice."
On the outside of the vessel, the glow of the deflector dish glowed a bright yellow, illuminating the dark dampness of the former nuclear power plant. Lights began to activate all over the vessel, bringing minimal life to what seemed to be a tomb that was disguised to be a ship. The nacelles collectors in the front began to blow in dark red as the dead ship came back from the grave like a zombie. It had been resurrected against all odds, and the doomed Excalibur that had fallen during the M-5 Experiment had risen from ash and stone, much like the ship's namesake.
Despite being in pain from suffering the effects of a fairly massive electrical discharge the Overlord demon couldn't help but let out a short laugh that morphed into a devious grin. Pentious for most of his life in hell had known nothing but being trampled on, ignored, and made fun of for a fool that couldn't even defeat two sinners despite him having an army.
But those days are now long since gone. For good.
Edison James Hendrix, Captain of the Federation Starship Excalibur, was drinking a triple shot of espresso as he read the report given to him by his crew that detailed their confrontation with a person that was close to exposing them to hell. Luckily, his crew managed not to spill the beans of their presence, and Angel Dust was able to be freed from the contract that he was forced to comply with .For some reason, he felt a sense of guilt inside of him as he read the report in the comfort of his quarters. The Captain felt like he was supposed to care for all people in his ship, whether that be his crew or their allies that they come across.
Entering into the observation deck again, Edison once again found all the senior officers except Rolf present, he must've been at the con of the ship, fulfilling the command responsibilities.
"So, anything you want to tell me that happened? Personally of course, so this won't be on any reports." Edison asked.
Kylkuc once again repeated his explanation of what transpired with Angel Dust up until the senior officers agreed to intervene.
"After we had agreed to free Angel of his contract we collaborated with Ms. Morningstar and Alastor to blackmail the three V's by hacking into their finances and personal information. Rolf and his team were ultimately very successful and had managed to take away a sizable but still small chunk of their wealth as well as doxing them and even slightly sabotaging Voxtechs streaming services, which appears to be a weak spot for Vox." Atathia continued while letting out a snicker at the last part.
"We were fortunate enough to not be detected online and so far our anonymity will likely be intact for the foreseeable future. Our allies saw to obtaining the contract from Valentino personally, but were joined and aided by another small-time overlord who appears to be Angel's best friend. She is also currently on her way to the hotel right now with our new allies."
Still after reading their report, Edison couldn't help but be in disbelief as the crew recounted their journey. To be honest, the most unbelievable part was that the TV guy wasn't able to find their location. Nevertheless, he was tremendously proud of his crew. They not only managed to keep their heads together after discovering their whereabouts, but performing above and beyond to keep their presence a secret. That fact made Edison the little more hopeful that they could find a way back home.
"You know you probably got this before. But I have to say, I'm impressed." Edison admitted as he let out a gasp. "But, we didn't get detected, right?
"No, so far Rolf has detected no attempts to hone in on any of our signatures or breach any of our firewalls. I think extra-dimensional beings are likely to be the last guess for who was responsible unless we were to reveal more or someone were to stumble upon our signatures."
Edison chuckled. "I suppose that's true."
"But we have to keep it that way. As long as nobody else knows who or what we are, we should be safe for the time being."
"There is the question of what we should do about Angel's friend though." Sh'erl voiced.
"Angel's what now?" Edison said, turning to his caitian Helmsman.
"She goes by the name Cherri Bomb and apparently she is another sinner with an extreme knack for making explosions." Xehrarv stated.
"Cherri Bomb?" Edison said in worry. "We're trusting someone that has 'bomb' in her name?"
"Well she did help free Angel and she doesn't seem malicious. But I do agree that her destructive nature is problematic." Sh'erl admitted.
"Well, what does she know about us, if any at all?" Edison asked.
"So far only that we are anonymous friends of the hotel that have a code of keeping our existence hidden from as many people as possible." Atathia replied.
Edison tried to maintain his composure. This was just great, the captain thought. Now we have another problematic, possibly destructive demon that knows that they helped the hotel in some way, the Captain further contemplated. He only hoped that she was at least sympathetic to some extent. "Well, that's good to hear."
"It would be fairly easy for us to go undetected during her visit. And while she may find clues through the renovations we have done as long as she isn't kept out of the places we have worked on, it is questionable how long we could keep her in ignorance depending on how long we are here and how often she visits." Kylkuc stated.
Edison thought for a bit about the situation. Starfleet was on a ticking clock, and they were losing time fast. It wasn't if Starfleet was going to be found, it was a matter of when. They couldn't escape to the outer orbit of Hell for safety, for they would smash into an energy barrier and kill everyone on board. They couldn't science their way out of it yet. For all they know doing the only proposed science option would cause a crater the size of New York City to appear. All they had to rely on at this point was the princess's knowledge and the hope that something in this godforsaken world would help them. Until then, Edison thought their safest bet would be the stall hell finding about them as much as he could.
"We're going to keep her in the dark for now. Until we need her, not one thing from us goes to her. Do you understand?" Edison commanded.
"Yes sir." Everyone replied.
As the meeting seemed to conclude after some more updates on the progress they had made with the hotel, the senior officers were brought out of their discussion as Rolf's voice over the intercom signaled that Cherri had arrived.
Exiting the limbo Cherri leaned her body back until you could hear a few pops from her back and neck.
The interior of the ride was cozy but the company was rather dull and annoying, something she never thought she would say about what most people saw as an eldritch abomination.
Sure it was somewhat interesting to hear about the Radio Demon's early career but he very clearly omitted the most interesting details and the many murders he commited, prefering to harp on about the technical aspects of radio, trivial details, and old sayings. He probably did it on purpose to tease interest only to spend 30 minutes talking but saying nothing before deciding to sit back and enjoy the rest of the ride.
Fortunately they had finally arrived. Not only would she finally be able to break the news to Angel that he was free to do whatever he wanted having been emancipated from Valentino's service, but she could also try to gain some hints at just who the hell were these mysterious friends that made all this possible.
"Well we're home." Charlie stated as the limbo took off behind her to park, being driven by her two goat-like servants.
"Yes, it is quite enjoyable to be back." Alastor seconded as the three walked inside.
Entering into the lobby Cherri didn't notice anything suspicious at first aside from the fact that many parts of the lobby were littered with some form of wiring, along with some form of work tools. The work tools themselves were branded with a yellow delta and some were so unfamiliar she couldn't even think of what they were used for.
The reception desk was empty signaling Husk was probably still sleeping or perhaps passed out drunk after exceeding even the limits his demon physiology afforded him.
Before the demons could walk any further a fast little blur zoomed up and stopped in front of them.
"Hia Al! And Charlie! And Cherri! I almost finished cleaning all the floors and helping out our new friends with the renovations! I hope they'll be back tomorrow, there's some real dreamy guys among them." Nifty started in her usual fast paced tone
"Wait? You actually got someone to support you as well?" Cherri questioned
"Uhhh..yeah. I'm going to try to help them solve a conundrum they are in in return, but they are very generous and I'd say they are doing a lot of the work out of their own hearts!" Charlie replied happily.
"Damn, either they are pulling some long con or they really are as hopelessly optimistic as you with this idea of yours."
Sighing, Charlie changed the subject. "Well now that we're back I don't think we should keep Angel waiting anymore, plus we've been up all night."
After Charlie let out a yawn Cherri decided to prod. "So these new friends of yours, they probably all went to sleep or off duty for the day. Will I be able to see them tomorrow as they work on this place?"
"Well that is a most interesting question." Alastor commented after letting out a short laugh
"Well…uh no. They called me as we arrived and stated they wanted as few people in on the secret as possible. But you're still welcome to visit after we've completed all the renovations, which should be soon."
"Hmmm, well to be honest princess I never liked hanging around inside since it was always awkward with you and your girlfriend who still hasn't gotten rid of that stick up her ass. But now that Angle is free and you don't seem like the type to force him to stay here I'm going to be spending a lot more time with him. So I'll probably find out what all this secrecy is about eventually, just so you know."
"Well…we'll cross that bridge if we get to it. But it's not something bad! It's…just something kinda…unbelievable and would cause a lot of trouble if the rest of hell knew."
Despite the vagueness of everything Charlie had said on the matter Cherri couldn't help but try to hypothesize on what the secret was, but not enough was revealed for her to come up with anything that made at least some sense. She would have to look for more clues on the matter to do so.
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but knowing your feminine friend's habits of not waking up until well into the day, it will be a while before we can recall our glorious tale to Angel unless we wish to wake him from his slumber." Alastor chimed in
"As much as I want to bring him the good news, he definitely needs his sleep this time. And I could use a short bit of sleep myself." Charlie stated with another yawn before grabbing one of the keys behind the reception desk and handing it to Cherri.
"You can get some rest like me or hang out in the lobby if you want, but please don't try to get behind any of the doors that are locked."
"You know if you keep teasing people like this they may be compelled to not listen, but I guess I can behave…for a bit. Sweet dreams princess." Cherri said with a toothy grin.
"Well this conversation has been interesting, but I would enjoy retiring to my chambers for a bit as well. Farewell ladies." Alastor waved as he made his way up to his room.
As the demons parted ways Cherri decided to take up Charlie's offer on a bit of sleep. The room, while nothing special or high end, was decent enough by everyday standards. She never had a knack for anything fancy or luxurious, hell she found most old couches were decent enough to sleep on but she couldn't deny the bed was comfy. After a short nap however the cyclops got up to wander around the hotel to look for clues as to just who or even what Charlie's new allies were.
The lobby offered no clues she had already seen other than a few locked doors until she had come across one with blood on the floor outside it. Seeing it colored red meant it wasn't imp blood and must have been from either one of Charlie's new friends or likely Angel given what prompted her and Alastor to secure the contract.
Opening the door she was greeted with the sight of what looked like some makeshift medical room, but it was…off.
For starters, on the desk was some form of rectangular device. Picking it up, Cherri saw its more intricate features. The device could very well fit in her hand, making her think that it was some kind of personal device, much like a phone. However, the phones they had in hell were wildly different from what she had discovered on the desk. And whatever it was it seemed kind of more advanced in whatever purpose it held than the extremely cheap smartphones and devices hell copied off of earth. Especially considering Vox and other major players in the tech industry had taken planned obsolescence to a level even worse than nearly all tech companies on earth.
Moving on she checked a vial that was next to the strange device that she had found earlier on the front desk. Inside was a purple substance reminding her of Heinz Ez-Squirt from the 90's. Labeled on it was a white sticker with the bold lettering: "ANDORIAN SHINGLES: USE ONLY IN EMERGENCIES."
Next to the purple vial was a case of metallic round cartridges. Labeled on the case was with no bold letter, and had the lettering printed onto it of "LUNG CANCER SPRAY. ONLY APPLY IN NASAL AREA."
Cherri was especially confused by the Cancer case as she slowly picked it up to examine it. It couldn't be what she was thinking, right? No one, especially here, had ever come close to making a cure to Lung Cancer let alone having it be in some form of application that was completely alien to her. This had to be the work of the people that were helping Charlie and somehow got Angel out of the contract. It made sense, if these guys had cures to diseases that strained the mind, what else were they capable of? Why hadn't they capitalized on their supposed cancer cure by selling it to hell's few hospitals? Why were they willing to renovate Charlie's hotel for her and free Angel? Overall however, there was one thing that lingered in the sinner's mind above all else: Who the hell are these guys?
Hearing footsteps the female cyclops turned her head to see Charlie entering through the doorway.
"Oh! I see you found the uhh…heheh." The princess of hell looked as if one of her parents had found a stash of contraband their child was not supposed to have.
Fortunately for Charlie she went from looking embarrassed and guilty to someone who had just gotten a brilliant idea. "You knowww, Angel is probably awake now so we oughta head down and bring him the good news! Right?"
Taking one more look back at the medical room that seemed more likely to bring up more questions than any answer Cherri turned back towards Charlie.
"Yeah…let's go see him."
The two awkwardly started walking towards the Spider Demon's room unable to think about what to say to each other until Cherri noticed the lack of someone present in their escapade to free Angel last nigh.
"Hey, where's that Radio Demon friend of yours?"
"Alastor? Oh, he said he had something to take care of and that he would talk to Angel about last night later today."
"Hmm, alright. Let's just get to breaking the news to Angie for now."
Letting out a slight smirk, Charlie was grateful Angel at least had a friend to lean on when his troubles really started weighing down on him. But while it was nice to have her around her friend to help break the news that he was finally free from his abuser, could she keep her from finding out the secret? Charlie didn't have an answer, nor did she have one as to whether or not Cherri would be a good influence on Angel now. She would just have to hold out hope that things would turn out alright and that she would make the best decisions she could in the coming future.
Rubbing his eyes, Angel awoke from his slumber as he felt something wet but fuzzy tickle his face. As his sight cleared he was greeted by the image of a little piglet giving him a head tilt while sitting down as if it was expectantly waiting for him to wake up. A closer look would reveal said pig was not as normal as it seemed given the two tiny black horns on its little head along with similar black spikes along the back. To top it off the tail while shaped like a normal pig's had a fork on the end giving it a similar but curled appearance of an imp's tail.
"Morning Nuggs." Angel said with a groan.
To say he was sore was an understatement, but he at least felt decently well rested and his injuries were mostly healed at this point.
After a quick morning routine Angel was feeling a little better. Whatever drug that pointy-eared-futuristic-trandimens…
Whatever doctor used seemed to help a lot. Normally he would be suffering from a head pounding migraine and other symptoms of being so coked up from last night. They were still there but only faintly.
Angel didn't really know what to think about the hotel's new allies. On one hand what they had accomplished in terms of technology was nothing short of incredible and they seemed to be ahead in terms of culture but there was still a lot unknown of them and they just didn't fit into the world he knew at all. It was as if they were something that couldn't be considered or comprehended in relation to the inner workings of hell and of the earth he knew when he was alive.
Maybe it was best to get off this ass and actually try reading up on them like Charlie was voraciously doing rather than his usual carefree and apathetic attitude.
Tracing his hand over one of the areas that was stitched up Angel had to give them credit. Most people wouldn't waste medical care on sinners due to their regenerative nature and while it was kinda of a waste it certainly sped things up and lessened the pain.
At least until it inevitably came back again.
Sighing Angel picked up fat nuggets for some cuddles as he laid down and stroked the little piglet's head to which the little hog reciprocated by snuggling into his master and half closing his eyes.
A few minutes later however Angle was taken out of it as someone started knocking on his door.
Sighing he got up to open it. It was probably Vaggie and Charlie trying to drag his sore ass to another joke of a rehab session or to check up on him. Probably both.
Which is why he almost dropped nuggs when to his surprise he found Cherri at the door with Charlie behind her after he opened it.
"Hey Angie."
"I…shit, Cherri how've ya been!"
"As well as
Letting out a laugh Angel put nuggs down before replying, "Well it's nice to see you again sugar tits, but what are you doing here in the hotel? Normally the princess here is a little uptight about us having fun together and…wait. Ugghh…you're not here to lecture us about the times we've hung out with each other are you?"
"No Angel. I…wanted to talk to you about last night and what happened while you were asleep."
Angel's annoyed and playful mood changed in an instant as he instantly tensed up
"I-I…look toots I'm all patched up on account of our new friends, so there's nothing to talk about. I'm fine."
"No you're not Angel. You've…almost never been fine as long as I've known you."
Charlie said with a pleading tone.
"Look toots if you're just gonna pity me or start some spiel over how fucked up I am and need to change-"
"Angel! I'm…(sigh). I'm sorry Angel. It's my fault you were hurt last night."
Angel quickly went from being annoyed and defensive to shocked. "Wha- toots you're not…t-there…there's nothing ya could have done. Let's just leave it behind us."
"Angel, …I should have been looking for a way to free you from Valentino from the start. It was stupid of me to have ever thought that you could even attempt rehabilitation while having to suffer through that monster whenever he called you. Let alone think that me and Vaggie's attempts to try and cure your addictions would ever work when you were stuck in such an environment at work that both forced and encouraged you to give into them more."
All three demons were silent for a moment before Angel spoke up in a vulnerable and insecure tone.
"T-thats…I-I. Look Charlie, maybe you're right. But like it or not, there's nothing you can do about it. You just have to let it go."
"Angel the more we try to ignore it the worse it would have gotten, which is why I set out to put a stop to it last night with star…I mean, our new ally."
Thinking back to last night Angel remembered the pointy ear doctor's words about them helping, but that couldn't mean…it couldn't! It was impossible short of killing Valentino! And they certainly didn't seem like the types willing to go through with any assassinations.
Angel's disbelief was shattered the moment Charlie reached into her reddish-pink tuxedo and pulled out the piece of paper that had haunted him for the past 40 years in hell. He was only momentarily taken out of his shock as Charlie slowly handed the contract to him.
Opening it with his now shaky hands Angel couldn't help but let tears start falling as he saw Val's near illegible cursive handwriting which had abdicated the contract's enforcement to Charlie only for her to have voided the thing entirely with her own more simple but elegant signature.
"We may not have iced the fucker Angie, but we got the next best thing." Cherri stated breaking the silence.
"H-how?" Angel said in a shaky voice.
"I don't know how, but Charlie's new friends you guys won't tell me about were somehow able to hack into Val and his two bitches bank accounts and make out with a looooot of cash. They were even able to dox them and shared how to pirate old diode head's shitty tv service." Cherri said with a laugh.
Angel cracked a smile over Cherri's retelling of their faceoff with the three Vs before he hugged the two demons in front of him while letting out a few sniffles before awkwardly backing away. "I…I don't know what to say."
"I'll give you some time to process, but I want to start getting serious about making you a better person Angel. Just know that everyone at the hotel should be here for you if you ever need to talk or vent." Charlie said with an empathetic smile.
So many thoughts were racing through Angel's head that taking at least a moment to process was a necessity at this point.
"Yeah, I'll join Cherri at the bar in a while. I'll just…be in my room for a bit."
"Don't think for too long, we have a bitchin' ass party to throw to celebrate." Cherri added while Charlie gave an unsure look.
"Well..uh, yeah we'll just be hanging around the lobby if you need us. Take care Angel."
As the two demons left Angel was once again left alone with his thoughts. Feeling something nudge his leg, Angel looked down to see Nuggs giving him a questioning look. Picking his little companion up after closing the door and sitting back down on his bed, Angel held the little piglet to his chest.
Letting out a shaky breath Angel began to try and think of an answer to what was to come next as he laid down to look at the ceiling, missing the sight of a shadow like entity scurrying under the door.
Alastair was reviewing the last of the resources and materials being transported down towards the hotel. The next batch was ten vials of dermaline and two sets of medical hyposprays, all packed and ready to be used by the demons. He still couldn't wrap his mind that they were actually in hell. A few years ago, the craziest thing that would happen in his life would be something related to his daughter. He had contemplated his family before when they arrived at the hotel, but in light of recent developments he was worried about whether he could see them. He guessed it was a common thought among the crew of the Excalibur as their stay in this place continued.
Before becoming chief engineer on the Excalibur, he had been drifting away from starfleet, choosing instead to help raise his daughter into the best person she can be. He was about to hand in his maternity leave papers to Starfleet command until he got an offer he couldn't pass up: Chief Engineer onboard the USS Excalibur. He took it without a second chance. But later, and especially now…
"...I feel like I've made a mistake. I just don't know if I can do this Doc. Should 'ave refused the job?" Alastair asked later on in the day in the newly created therapist facility on board the USS Excalibur, headed by Lieutenant Esihlaav Th'qaovas, an andorian who specialized in therapy services along with his science degree in starfleet academy.
"Alastair, your decision to join was anything but a mistake. If it wasn't for your quick thinking back to jumpstart the impulse engines, we'd all be goners. Surely that's a reason why coming here wasn't a mistake." Esihlaav said the Chief Engineer of the Excalibur.
"I know, right, yer're right, it's just me daughter. I know we've already went on about 'er, right, but it just nags me yer know, isit?"
"I've been getting that a lot from other crew members." The Andorian said as he looked through his notebook of his many patients. "I was planning to make a support group for parents like you." The Andorian said as he got a list of names from his PADD.
"It's a list of officers that would be interested. The Captain has already supported my idea." Esihlaav said as he sent the list of names to the chief officer.
"Our first meeting is tomorrow at 17:00 hours. I hope I can see you there." Esihlaav said as he stood up from his chair.
Alastair had a slight smile as he stood up and shook the Andorian's hand. "I'd be glad ter join. I'll spot yer there mate." The Chief Engineer said before he exited through the door. As soon as he got out, the andorian the sat down immediately while he put his hand through his hair. Him going through a long day was an understatement. He had to deal with god knows how many breakdowns and cries by the officers. One time, a couple came to him, so distraught over the fact that they left their daughters at theirs aunt's, petrified that they will never see them again. He was nervous about staying here for long, because it would only be a matter of time that they were all listed as K.I.A. Hell, it may have already happened, but they wouldn't know for sure unless they get communication back with Starfleet. He was hopeful of the abilities of the senior command, but at this point, he was starting to get nervous. Something had to change, and he didn't know what.
"AND STAY OUT!"
Tumbling over the tossed out lab equipment and broken chemical vials Baxter skidded on the street before slowly picking himself up while holding back a scream over the broken glass that got lodged in his hand from being evicted…again.
"IF I EVER SEE YOU AGAIN YOU'RE BRAINS ARE GONNA BE PAINTING THE STREET EGGHEAD!"
Knowing that responding would only bring on more pain Baxter grumbled out something below his breath before pulling out the glass and holding back any tears. Shakily wrapping a handkerchief around the appendage after letting out a scream of pain from applying an unhealthy amount of hand sanitizer that the fish demon carried with him at all times, Baxter then tried to salvage what wasn't broken or now stolen as his former landlord being a stereotypical jock with a penance for steroids and cocaine would likely follow through on his threats if he tried to recover anything left behind in his room.
Considering how the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over yet expecting different results, maybe he was starting to lose it.
Baxter couldn't even count how many times bringing an experiment to his current housing ended in some fiery explosion, overflow of acid, or release of toxic fumes that flooded the building.
Having a lab of his own Baxter didn't need to bring his work home, but he just couldn't help himself. Once an idea got into his head he had to follow through with it until he reached a breakthrough or final product.
Plus while his laboratory was impressive considering how few people down here were scientists, even he wasn't reckless enough to risk it entirely and it lacked all but the most basic amenities.
That and it was simply cheaper and to risk destroying some slumlord's run down apartment then having to replace his expensive lab instruments not involved in whatever experiment he was doing at the time.
While he certainly didn't have any money problems considering he was willing to make use of hell's extremely selfish patent system that ensured he was set for life over the inventions he created or copied from earth over the 108 years he had been down here, he still couldn't put too much strain on those funds.
But the problem was he was starting to run out of places that hadn't already permanently banned him. Hell certainly had no shortage of landlords that sold housing to people at well…hellish prices, with the most successful ones justifying it by creating artificial demand. But over time and considering how he couldn't traverse between rings or stray too far outside the city his lab was in, he was running out of options.
Sighing, Baxter finished picking up the last of his things and began the long trek back to the lab.
Sitting down at a nearby bench he waited for a taxi, letting his eyes wander until they came upon a flier, if that was what it was. It looked more like a child's draining pasted over a decently professional advertisement. But what caught his attention was the bolded line about free room and board. Below a drawing of some hell native puppy on a cloud the flier read:
Attention all Sinners!
Are you tired of all the pain and misery of living in hell? Regretful of your sins? Terrified of being slaughtered on Extermination Day?
We can help!
Here at the Happy Hotel, we aim to serve all who are seeking redemption and aim to better themselves. As long as our patrons attempt one of our treatment plans and attend a bi-weekly evaluation and therapy session in an attempt to be accepted by heaven, they will be provided with free room and board and a weekly allowance.
We are located on 537 Serpent Avenue in the southern outskirts of Pentagram City. We Hope to see you soon! :)
Baxter, like every other sinner and hellborn native of the ring, had heard about Charlotte Morningstar's disastrous interview over her crazy idea of redeeming sinners in some vain attempt to stop the yearly exterminations.
At first he didn't think much of it as the idea itself was filled with many holes and it just seemed like boring celebrity gossip. But now that he thought about it, it could be an interesting side experiment to conduct with the benefit of free housing. Even if it was likely destined to end in failure, science at times could be more about the process of elimination than hoping to find one of or the only solution to a problem. But even then was it worth the time and resources?
There was also of course the problem with the hotel's newest guest if rumors were true.
Alastor was perhaps the most feared being across the rings, so it was no surprise that everyone was left baffled when the guy started advertising the newly renamed "Hazbin Hotel" on his radio show.
Everyone was left hypothesizing just what was going through the guy's mind or what ulterior motive he had.
Maybe he was having fun sabotaging the project, maybe he was luring in helpless victims, or maybe he was even trying to manipulate Lucifer's daughter into helping him dispose of his long time rival Vox and his allies.
The latter was the most popular and if the sightings last night were true about the two being spotted outside Valentino's main joint then maybe there was credit to the last one.
Then again the news wasn't blasting a story about the three V's being offed or a bloodbath of bystanders as the result of a confrontation.
Either way Alastor was an unknown, but there was also the fact that the princess was a goody two shoes unlikely to tolerate any foul play and that her father would tear apart half of hell before letting harm come to her.
As a taxi appeared Baxter signaled for it to pull over before he started loading what little of his things he salvaged into the backseat of the car before taking a seat.
"I charge extra for any baggage you hobos like to lug along."
"I'm not a-eguhh, just be quiet during the drive and get me to my destination as fast as you can without causing an accident."
"Sure pal, and if there's any blood on my seats from that scrawny hand of yours you'll be paying double. Now where to?"
Signing over his insufferable cab driver Baxter paused for a moment before answering.
"Drop me off at 537 Serpent Avenue."